ADHD in the News - April 25, 2013

A weekly news digest** from the National Resource Center on ADHD: A Program of CHADD

"California has one of the lowest rates of diagnosis in the nation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, raising questions about the role of regional, economic and cultural differences in identifying what scientists regard as a brain disorder...California ranks fifth lowest in the nation – tied with Alaska – in the percentage of children diagnosed with ADHD, according to newly released data from the 2011-12 National Survey of Children’s Health..." Full Story

"There are wide variations from state to state in the portion of children who have been diagnosed with ADHD and who are taking ADHD medication, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the January 24, 2013, edition of Preventing Chronic Disease..." Full Story

"New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime -- a 33 percent increase over the past five years...nearly one-third of parents say they believe Rx stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall, normally prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can improve a teen's academic performance even if the teen does not have ADHD..." Full Story

Do different kinds of disruptive kids start from the same place? (Prevention Action, April 24, 2013)

"Conduct disorder, ADHD, and oppositional defiant disorder are considered separate diagnoses of chronic behavioral problems. But despite their differences, these conditions develop from similar risk factors in children’s early environments, a recent review argues...A recent systematic review by a team of researchers from Glasgow examined the common risk factors underlying these conditions. While there is a growing recognition that these disorders are determined by a confluence of genetic and environment factors, their paper focused on what is known about environmental risk factors in the antenatal period and up to four years of age..." Full Story

Examine Social Factors to Explain Rise in Diagnoses of Mental Disorders (ScienceDaily, April 25, 2013)

"Examining social factors is vital to better explaining and understanding the dramatic rise in the number of Americans diagnosed with mental disorders in recent years, according to an analysis by a team of medical and mental health experts. Their conclusions, which appear in the latest issue of the journal Health Affairs, comes ahead of the May release of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)..." Full Story

Learning Disabilities Affect Up to 10 Percent of Children (Science Daily, April 18, 2013)

"Up to 10 per cent of the population are affected by specific learning disabilities (SLDs), such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to 2 or 3 pupils in every classroom, according to a new article. The review -- by academics at UCL and Goldsmiths -- also indicates that children are frequently affected by more than one learning disability. The research, published today in Science, helps to clarify the underlying causes of learning disabilities and the best way to tailor individual teaching and learning for affected individuals and education professionals..." Full Story

Study Shows How We Refocus To Track Down A Person, Animal Or Thing (Medical News Today, April 23, 2013)

"A contact lens on the bathroom floor, an escaped hamster in the backyard, a car key in a bed of gravel: How are we able to focus so sharply to find that proverbial needle in a haystack?..."Our results show that our brains are much more dynamic than previously thought, rapidly reallocating resources based on behavioral demands, and optimizing our performance by increasing the precision with which we can perform relevant tasks," said Tolga Cukur, a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at UC Berkeley and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience..." Full Story

Do Obesity and ADHD Share Common Risk Factors? (GoodTherapy.org, April 22, 2013)

"Self-regulation deficits are believed to play a key role in the development and maintenance of obesity, similar to how it affects behaviors in other conditions, including anorexia, bulimia, and attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD)...To explore this issue further, Zia Choudhry of the Department of Human Genetics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada recently conducted a study assessing the neurocognitive processes, behavioral motivation, and motor activity of 284 children with ADHD ranging in age from 6 to 12..." Full Story

The Healing Power of Nature (PsychCentral, April 23, 2013)

"In my last blog on the growing numbers of kids being diagnosed with ADHD, I wondered out loud about the potential negative effects in our modern culture of things like: too much time spent indoors, too little sun and exercise, too many electronics, and not enough sleep. Rather than dwell on the causes of our problems, let’s consider what we can do to reduce the impact of stress on the lives of both adults and children. Not from a medical psychiatric perspective, but from the perspective of everyday life..." Full Story

Numbers of children with ADHD (C-SPAN Washington Journal, April 13, 2013)

"Dr. Patricia Quinn, a developmental pediatrician and director of the National Center for Girls with AD/HD, talked about a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows that 11 percent of school-age children have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She discussed what this new data means for policy surrounding the disorder and responded to telephone calls and electronic communications..." Video

Possible Link Between ADHD in Children & Cell Phone Use (PsychCentral, April 21, 2013)

"A new study suggests a potential link between the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cell phone use...For the study, researcher Yoon Hwan Byun of the Department of Medicine at Dankook University College of Medicine in Korea set out to discover whether radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) affect developing brains with prolonged exposure. Past research has suggested a link between prenatal cell phone exposure and the risk of conduct and behavior problems in children..." Full Story